My betta's one eye looks like it has a cloudy sac over it what is it!?

Question

he' been doing ok for awhile then it started as a gray slash mark on his eye. then it got better than 2-3 days later there was a sac like thing covering his one eye. we are treating him for bug eye with tetracycline tablets that petco and petsmart recommended. he has had it for over a month now but it seems to not bother him alot. He can still see things move out of that eye and still eat fine. what is this and what is the treatment!

The tetracycline i've treated him with before said to give one tablet per 10 gallons so i cut it up in smaller chunks, i only have a 1 gallon tank with a airator and at first i treated him for the reccomended days and no change and so i waited awhile and decided to put a bigger amount of the tablet in, and after 2-3 days his water turned red I'm sure its because of the meds but what do i do about that. we have tried giving him ampicillian gel food but he woulndt eat it, i think he didnt realize that it was something he needed to eat.

Answer 1

It is a bacterial infection and your current treatment will probably clear it up within a week or so. Even if it looks much better and seems well, I would encourage you to continue treating the fish for a full 14 days. These infections have a nasty way of coming back it you don't quite cure it completely and if it comes back it's much more difficult to treat. If you don't see improvement in 3-4 days, change antibiotics. Try Maracyn or Furanace as both of these are in a different class of medication and might treat it if it's resistant to the tetracycline.

Be sure you don't filter with carbon during the treatment, that would remove the medicine before it can work.

MM

Answer 2

It happens a lot to fish actually. What that sac is, it's a bacteria and it caused an infection. The fish cannot see out of that eye. Basically what that treatment is, it kills bacteria and heals your fish. I do recommend that you follow the treatment directions CAREFULLY. If you don't, most likely your fish might not survive. And don't use a filter, if you do the meds. don't work.

When i do such treatment, i try to isolate the fish in it's own tank. If you have the beta alone, you are okay.